no doubt the losses leave a lot of work to be done this offseason (especially under some assertion that amendola will get injured that i think a lot of people are making). i just meant from last year, ridley was obviously an every down back that we weren't necessarily accustomed to seeing from belichick recently, but they still threw for almost 5000 yards. brady can make it work with any professional set of receivers/tight ends ('professional' is left intentionally ambiguous, if for example they have to rely on someone like aaron dobson to step up and he starts dropping balls or running errant routes then that is not really reflective of an adequate level of play for a professional). not because he is necessarily of some otherworldly ability, but because he is so comfortable running the offense that a young unproven receiver would be hard-pressed to find too many situations that would better serve as a stage for a breakout performance. not that welker or hernandez aren't gifted and made brady's life easier (at this point i'm assuming gronkowski will be fine by the start of the season), but at some point they were unproven players that had to step up in the same offense.

basically i'm just saying that i don't see why the patriots offense would suddenly not revolve around throwing the ball when brady is still starting quarterback. i don't think ridley is going to be a 1600 yard back with brady playing an alex-smith-49ers role and vulturing an mvp award because of the loss of hernandez. unless i missed something last year, and teams were actually stacking the box against ridley (i honestly have no idea, patriots fans would know better than i would).

no doubt the losses leave a lot of work to be done this offseason (especially under some assertion that amendola will get injured that i think a lot of people are making). i just meant from last year, ridley was obviously an every down back that we weren't necessarily accustomed to seeing from belichick recently, but they still threw for almost 5000 yards. brady can make it work with any professional set of receivers/tight ends ('professional' is left intentionally ambiguous, if for example they have to rely on someone like aaron dobson to step up and he starts dropping balls or running errant routes then that is not really reflective of an adequate level of play for a professional). not because he is necessarily of some otherworldly ability, but because he is so comfortable running the offense that a young unproven receiver would be hard-pressed to find too many situations that would better serve as a stage for a breakout performance. not that welker or hernandez aren't gifted and made brady's life easier (at this point i'm assuming gronkowski will be fine by the start of the season), but at some point they were unproven players that had to step up in the same offense.

basically i'm just saying that i don't see why the patriots offense would suddenly not revolve around throwing the ball when brady is still starting quarterback. i don't think ridley is going to be a 1600 yard back with brady playing an alex-smith-49ers role and vulturing an mvp award because of the loss of hernandez. unless i missed something last year, and teams were actually stacking the box against ridley (i honestly have no idea, patriots fans would know better than i would).

I think losing Hernandez and Gronk's injury obviously sets us back a lot, but we're still not barren in terms of pass catchers like we were in 2006. I think right now our ideal passing set until Gronk returns consists of:

WR: Dobson
WR: Amendola
WR/HB: Edelman
TE: Ballard
RB: Vereen

There is some upside there. Vereen really started to come on as a pass catcher at the end of the season, and he gives us big play ability out of the backfield that we never had before with Woodhead or Faulk. I actually think he's going to get the majority of our snaps at RB this year, and by the end of the year we'll consider him instead of Ridley our lead back.

Ballard can be a good weapon with an accurate passer like Brady, and I've always believed that Edelman is a good football player, but the lack of consistent opportunities/health have prevented him from putting up solid numbers.

Dobson is obviously a wildcard as is Boyce, and potentially an UDFA guy like Harrison, but I'm not ready to write them off because they're struggling in their first couple mini-camp practices.

I'm not too excited about Amendola, and I think even if he's healthy he's not going to be anywhere near a 120 pass catcher. Still he's a proven competent NFL receiver in a group that is obviously lacking them.

So, how stupid can these guys be? He gets handed a 5 year $40 million contract and he can't keep out of trouble and has to shoot his "friend"? I'm sorry because I'm ranting here, but NFL players do not deserve this type of cash when they're horrible, not intelligent, and irresponsible.

Pretty much to sum up Hernandez, he's a scum bag. It's obvious he pulled the trigger. I mean, what moron who didn't have something to hide, destroy evidence and hire a cleaning crew between the hours of his "friend's" death and from when his body was found?

Randy Moss is still available.
6 years ago, almost everyone said he was washed up when they took him from Oakland.
The guy has never had a significant (ACL, MCL, Achilles) injury that I can recall.

Funnier things have happened.

I don't put anything past Little Bill.

I'm still picturing Tim Tebow in the slot. He's basically the same athlete Hernandez was/is and maybe even a little better in his shuttle and vertical numbers. With Tebow on the field it would open up some creative looks for them too. I know everyone laughs at the mention of his name but i think he could be helpful to them

I'm still picturing Tim Tebow in the slot. He's basically the same athlete Hernandez was/is and maybe even a little better in his shuttle and vertical numbers. With Tebow on the field it would open up some creative looks for them too. I know everyone laughs at the mention of his name but i think he could be helpful to them

Last I saw, Tebow is white which means he has no chance at being as athletic as the far more superior ethnicities.

I'm still picturing Tim Tebow in the slot. He's basically the same athlete Hernandez was/is and maybe even a little better in his shuttle and vertical numbers. With Tebow on the field it would open up some creative looks for them too. I know everyone laughs at the mention of his name but i think he could be helpful to them

but he can't catch...

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Stafford Sig by touchdownrams the rest of the sig by Sig Master Bone Krusher Avy by King of all avys renji

Ballard is really good and healthy, Hoomanawanui is a much better receiver than we've seen, and they also have Daniel Fells. They might not have two obvious pro bowl players at TE to start the season, but they're still fairly loaded at the position.

Reports indicating they didn't find anything in the river/pond. Its really curious to me, that at this point Hernandez hasn't even been charged with anything yet. Second week of this, and still nothing.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WMD

Jesse realizing Walt was Santa Claus could really shake things up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know how old you are, but if you can get to 24/25 without getting arrested or killed, you've done well for yourself lol.

Roger Cosack was talking on ESPN earlier, and "technically" they can't charge him right now even with obstruction of justice. If he gets away with this, I might cry. I wasn't old enough really to be around the Ray Lewis situation, I was only 5 or 6, so this whole NFL player murder thing is really interesting (for lack of a better word).